TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Skip Jacks....Never Again

After a lazy pool day at Flamingo the daily question came up "What do you want for dinner" my usual answer is I don't know. So I said let's go to Pineapple Pete"s. The food is reasonably priced and has a variety of items on the menu. But they are closed on Tuesdays, so I said let's drive down Welfare Road and pick a restaurant. When we got to Skip Jacks there was parking out front and I said this will work even though we dined there a few years ago and were not impressed but what the heck, give them a second chance. The parking attendant guided us into our spot, thank you very much. Without reservations the hostess said no problem and we were promptly seated and drink orders were taken and delivered. The server gave us a few minutes after our drinks were served and came back to take our order. I ordered escargot for an appetizer and the market priced filet mignon served medium and my wife just ordered her entree of shrimp linguine. At the time of ordering we ordered our second drinks while the table next to us was seated. Twenty minutes later we were still waiting for our drinks so my wife went up to the hostess area and saw our waiter come out of the kitchen and reminded him of our drink order which he then looked after. When he brought our drinks he said our entree would be out shortly as the chef was preparing my filet as ordered?? Meanwhile the table beside us that was seated after us was enjoying their entree. Our order arrived and my wife's linguine was very good, my filet was WELL done, she said send it back, at this point I said I've been here long enough and ate a few pieces. When the waiter came over to ask how everything was I picked up the filet between my fingers and said "you called this medium", he said there's no pink. The manager came over to hear my complaint and took $20 off my entree. When the bill arrived they added the 15% service charge (my pet peeve) and that's all they got. On the way out the hostess asked us how everything was so I told her, she was very sympathetic and I mentioned that I didn't add a tip because of the 15% service charge to which she said the servers don't see any of that 15% and that goes straight to the owner in the States. Sorry for venting but it needed to be said.

Lawd so sad , that's why we really don't go there even though their Lobsters are great ..
And that's why , when we go for dinner , we choose before hand what kind of food we will want . Will never go to a Seafood Restaurant and order Steak , sa la vie .

So many horror stories about bad service seems like etc. no excuse for bad food. Post Covid staffing still a big problem lots of places. Steak is obviously not their signature thing. Try JAX for steak.

I think they did well to take the 20 off as you ate the steak. To me there's not much difference between medium and well done. Any steak past rare is over cooked to begin with. As someone else said don't go to a seafood restaurant for a steak and expect a great steak even though it's on the menu. Not cool to pick up the steak with your fingers to show the waiter. Better classy ways to do it.

Agreed..... I had the waitress feed two uneatable Rib-Eyes to the dogs hanging around the table at The Greehouse a few years back.

Glad you vented because it was on our list to visit.

I have not been a fan for a long time. I also find it is better to not ask about any added service charge as once you do, you open yourself up to all kinds of misleading answers that are designed to extract more $$ from you. We had a couple of great steak meals at Jax. I had the beef short rib entree that I found to be very good.

That is fine for you but not everyone chooses to eat a steak prepared to your personal liking. To most people, the difference between medium and well done would be huge. There is also the issue with "pink" versus red juices flowing. That is why there are rare, medium, well-done and mid-ranges of each. I prefer medium rare but that is not to say that is what someone else should order. While predominantly seafood restaurants are not thought of as a place to order a steak, a local (to me) seafood restaurant has one of the better steaks in the area and they compete against a legendary local steakhouse.

I mentioned Jax (a steakhouse) in my post, a friend ordered the seafood pasta there and said it was very good so it can go both ways.

Between service issues and inconsistent food, I have not been a fan of Skipjacks for a long time.

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Looks like this restaurant is a hit or miss for many. We go there just about every trip and always have prompt service and good meal. No complaints at all. Can’t remember if we ever had steaks there, though I would definitely enjoy my filet well done, totally killed and preferably on a dry side. I know, I am weird but that’s how I like my steaks.
Scuba, I know, you will disagree

us too,,,the last couple of visits we have always gone there for lobster - but honestly it was tough and not that tasty....nice setting, but??? We tried the lobster on lobster night at Greenhouse in Simpson bay and it was really good. Tomorrow,,,we will arrive, cannot wait, been way to long!!!!

So very sad to read this thread.
We ALWAYS do Skip Jacks at least once per trip for our grilled Caribbean lobster and have never had less than excellent service there along with very enjoyable grilled lobster. I’m still looking for a really good lobster Thermidor since ANTOINES closed but I’ve yet to find one that can compare.
We also often do a second night st SK’s for their pan sautéed grouper which has also been very good. The setting is a little more upscale than some of the other choices and we’ve always enjoyed our meals there.
That said, we also enjoy Lees for lobster (actually it was about our favorite place of late…..) but you need to check in advance to be certain they will have lobsters the night you go.
I sure do hope Skipjacks gets their act together before our next visit.

Our experiences with SJ have been hit and miss over the years. We swore off the place after a group of us went with a reservation and service was less than stellar, waiter was snarky and lots of mishaps with our food. Having said that we went back this past trip and the Grouper was very good, no problems with service. It's a lovely location overlooking the lagoon and when they have a good price for the lobster they get added to our list of must do.

All good. To each their own.

We ate there last April and we could were underwhelmed. Bland chowder, bland fish. Most annoying was the planks under our table. Everytime someone walked by (like every 10 seconds) our chairs thumped. Waiter wS unattentive at best. Much better steaks and Seafood all over the island. Suggest chef look up salt.

" Suggest chef look up salt."
What? More or less?

Whale Tail--as far as the service charge, if a restaurant adds the 15%, that's all we tip, and I don't make a comment about it to anyone at the restaurant. That's probably a lie that the server doesn't get any of the money, but to me, it doesn't matter. The servers are not indentured servants. They don't have to work there if the conditions are not good.

I do agree with the others who said not go to the Skipjacks for a steak (or pasta, for that matter). They did take something off the bill, so at least there is that.

Overall, we all have a limited amount of time on island and it is disappointing to not have a good experience. Hopefully your next dining experience will be much better!

"Whale Tail--as far as the service charge, if a restaurant adds the 15%, that's all we tip, and I don't make a comment about it to anyone at the restaurant. That's probably a lie that the server doesn't get any of the money, but to me, it doesn't matter. The servers are not indentured servants. They don't have to work there if the conditions are not good."
There you go. We agree again. What is this world coming to? I did feel a slight tremer. LOL

Scuba--yeah..

I would also add that EVERY restaurant seems to be hurting for servers these days, so a good server is not going to stay somewhere that this happens, that they have to beg for extra tips, on top of the 15%. I never ask about the 15%, as I'm not interested in hearing a lie about it. If I like the restaurant, I go back and continue to just tip the automatic amount. If I don't like the restaurant, it's just another reason not to go back.

There you go again. We are on a roll.

Oh, I'm sure it won't last long.

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Pat, have you tried Bistrot Caraibes? My favorite!

Yeah, but their bar stools are the best on the island.

Just returned home after 10 weeks in SXM, ate at Skip Jacks several times, service was good and food was always great other than one time wife had sand in scallops, which has has happened here at home. There were several other places that we ate at that charged the15% sevice charge and we added
another 5%.The only place we will not go back to is Pineapple Petes, the sevice was slow and crab stuffed grouper was thin and soft, there was twice as much stuffed crab on top of it that you could hardly find the grouper, if it was grouper. We ate at just about every place in Simpson Bay area more than once, and then Chesterfeilds by the port, Also in Maho at Roma and LaRosa Too which was the greatest.

I have always had great meals and service at Skipjacks and I always order seafood there, The Fisherman's Platter is my favourite!

Slowly the "Service charge" made its way from the French side, where it was common practise. I was NEVER a fan of that and to my point neither does anyone that dines on the Dutch side! IMHO, if the restaurant owners got together and discontinued this practise the staff would make a lot more money! Yeah sure now and then one of the Europeans would stiff a waiter, but overall they would do better!! They shot themselves in the foot with this. And why not ask if the 15% is tacked on. I got taken once. Double tipped not knowing, when approached the manager, he said the restaurant is now close, I can buy you a drink. As if that cured the problem! Ask, it doesn't hurt! If the service and experience is that good, I leave some extra cash! If not, I'm walking!

David--no reason to ask if the s/c is added on--look at the bill!

"Slowly the "Service charge" made its way from the French side, where it was common practise."
I never saw a service charge added to a bill on the French side. Was automatically included in the menu prices and not a line added item as required by french law. Easy to see if it's added onthe Dutch side by looking at the bill.

My thoughts exactly, Scuba. I don’t ever recall seeing a line item on a French dinner check that read service charge, which isn’t to say it wasn’t there but merely that I didn’t see it.

I have always understood the tip is figured into the cost of the food on the French side and personally speaking, I HATE the fact that any sc is added to checks on the Dutch side. We would personally tip more if the gratuity wasn’t forced by the different establishments and in too many cases I think the service would improve if it wasn’t forced on you.

We stay on the Dutch side for almost all our trips these days and hesitate to drive to the French side for dinners with so many great establishments so very close to us. We will certainly try Bistro Caraibes next trip since you are not the first person to tell us how good their Thermidor is but TY for the reminder. 😊😊

Pat--It certainly adds to the cost of the night, but you could hire Wilfred Brooks to take you over to the French side some night.

I agree, Scubaman. We've probably eaten 90% of our meals on the French side and can never remember it being common practice.

I’m sure Wilfred is a great option but for those of us who regularly stay at BSV, here’s a heads-up for you - they have a driver they can arrange for you to use by merely speaking to management.. He is very good and very reasonable and a nice guy as well. We used firm for a daytime r/t to P’berg last year and we were surprised at how reasonably priced he was not to mention the convenience

OK, no problem.

I posted that for the newbies.